Street bikers. Baker Street

Baker Street is one of the most famous and busiest streets in London. It is located in the northern area of ​​Westminster. Baker Street gained popularity thanks to the famous literary character Sherlock Holmes, whom Arthur Conan Doyle settled at this address in his novel.

History of Baker Street

This street was built in the 18th century by William Baker, after whom it got its name.

Baker Street in the 19th century

In the 19th century, Baker Street was famous for the fact that fashionable houses were built on it, the residents of which belonged to the upper classes.

The house where the literary character Sherlock Holmes lived was built in 1815. The British government decided that the building would become a second-class historical architectural monument. From 1860-1934 it was a private property, which housed a boarding house. In 1990, a museum was installed on the street, on which a sign was installed with the number 221B - the fictitious address of the famous detective.

The first Madame Tussauds museum was opened on Baker Street in 1835, which moved to Marylebone Road in 1864.

During the World War, the Special Operations Directorate was located on this street, as well as the British sabotage and intelligence service.
Baker Street Station opened here in 1863, the first subway station in the world.

Baker Street in the 20th century

From 1967 to 1968, house number 94 housed Apple Boutique, the first enterprise of the famous Apple company.

For many years, the office of the UK's largest brand, Mark and Spencer, was located in this area. In 2004 it was moved to Paddington Basin.
In the 20th century people often lived here famous personalities For example, in the 60s, the popular singer Dusty Springfield lived on this street.

In 1971, a world-famous robbery took place on this street. A sum of £3,000 was stolen from Lloyd's Bank. The criminals rented a building located next to the bank, dug a tunnel and blew up the safe. This event in 2008 formed the basis of the film “The Bank Job”.

Baker Street today

Currently, the area is primarily home to retail and commercial properties. Next to the Baker Street subway station is a lost and found property and a Beatles themed store. The main attractions that attract tourists to this place are Madame Tussauds and the Sherlock Holmes House Museum.

Baker Street Attractions

House - Sherlock Holmes Museum

The house museum is located near the Baker Street station. It is housed in a four-storey Victorian building with a plaque on the outside indicating that detective Sherlock Holmes lived there from 1881 to 1904. The museum's rooms exactly correspond to the descriptions that are present in the author's works. In the house you can see Sherlock Holmes' violin, his Turkish slipper with tobacco, Watson's revolver and other exhibits. Museum guides accompany visitors dressed as Victorian maids.

Opening hours: from 9.30 to 18.00. Tickets cost £6 for adults and £4 for children under 16 years of age.
The official address of the museum is: 221b Baker Street, London, NW1 6XE, England.

Madame Tussauds museum

This attraction is the largest wax museum in the world. Currently, it has more than 1000 exhibits. The mannequins not only depict historical figures, they also create images of famous musicians, actors and political figures. The figures look lifelike, most of them can move, and some exhibits can talk.

Opening hours: from 9.00 to 17.30. Tickets cost £22.25 for adults, £18.50 for children under 16 and free for children under 5.
Address: Marylebone Road, NW1, London

How to get to Baker Street

This area can be reached by metro to Baker Street station. The cost of travel on the London Underground ranges from 1.5 to 4.5 pounds. Baker Street can also be reached by buses: 18, 27, 30, 82, 113, 274. The fare on a London bus is about 2 pounds.

Baker Street is a busy street that is considered part of the A41 and is located in the northern part of Westminster, in the Marylebone area. Baker Street gained its popularity thanks to Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous character, Sherlock Holmes. In fact, the house at number 221B Baker Street, where the great detective lived, does not exist.

Initially, people of the upper classes lived on the street, which received its name in honor of William Baker, who laid it in the 18th century. Today, Baker Street houses primarily retail and commercial establishments.

Baker Street runs across Marylebone Road, parallel to Gloucester Place, south of Regent's Park. The street also crosses Portman Square, York Street and Wigmore Street before becoming . On the famous Baker Street there is a metro station of the same name. Not far from the subway there is a lost and found office for public transport. Baker Street Station is also the very first subway station in the world.

Baker Street is also famous for the fact that the first permanent museum of Madame Tussauds opened on this street in 1835. Since 1884, the Wax Museum has been located on Marylebone Road, near Baker Street.

During the Second World War, Baker Street was home to Britain's commando and intelligence service, as well as the Special Operations Executive. Later, from December 1967 to July 1968, the first enterprise of the famous Apple corporation, Apple Boutique, was located in house No. 94.

For many years, this famous street housed the office of Mark & ​​Spencer, one of the largest trading companies in Britain. In 2004 the office was moved to Paddington Basin.

Famous singer Dusty Springfield lived on Baker Street in the 1960s. Well, in September 1971, in a branch of Lloyd's Bank located on the same street, an amount of 3 million pounds sterling was stolen from deposit boxes. A feature film entitled “The Bank Job” was made about this incident in 2008.

How to get there?

What do you associate with the phrase “”? Of course, with the very street where the famous detective character Sherlock Holmes lived. This street actually exists, it is located in one of the noisiest and most populated (Marylebone), and is about 2.5 km long.

The name of the street was given in honor of its builder, William Baker, who worked on developing the path back in the 18th century. Whereas Baker Street was initially inhabited only by people of the wealthy classes, the area is now increasingly being given over to retail space or real estate.

Baker Street has gathered a great variety of different interesting places and objects. First of all, it is famous Sherlock Holmes Museum. Many tourists mistakenly try to find house 221B on this street, where the detective lived, according to the books, but there is no such house on Baker Street. But the museum is located in house number 239; it has officially existed since 1990. It’s funny that the company that opened the museum took the official name “221 b Ltd”. This is due to the fact that crowds of Holmes admirers tried to actively send their letters to the non-existent 221st house, so taking a similar name, the company decided to simplify the situation - now, instead of the address of the house, all letters are sent by the legal name of the museum.

Photo credit: Tony Margiocchi

Another character, Dr. House from the TV series of the same name, is also partially associated with this street. In one of the episodes, he shows his passport, where the address is 221 Baker Street. But the country is a little different - the state of New Jersey in the USA.

Baker Street is a must-see for the world's first subway station. same name, and also visit a store dedicated to the famous group The Beatles. By the way, just opposite it there is an excellent store of rock music and everything connected with it.

This street is also famous for the fact that in 1971 an incredible robbery was committed here, which is still talked about to this day. £1.5 million and jewelry worth a similar amount have mysteriously disappeared from Lloyds Bank. How did the kidnappers manage to endure so much? A lot of work was done to achieve this: the thieves rented a building not far from the bank and independently dug a 15-meter-long tunnel to it. They say that they have not yet been caught, although in 1973 information about the capture of thieves appeared in newspapers.

By visiting Baker Street, you can see a lot of interesting things and get inspired by the British spirit. Even if you don’t want to visit the Holmes Museum, you should just stroll along the wide sidewalks, enjoying the local beauty and rhythm of life.